I’d been wanting to pick up this collection of short stories for a while. This is a compilation of work from the 20 authors under 40 that were highlighted in The New Yorker. The only thing the authors have in common is a discernible literary talent and the fact that they are all under the age of 40 (or were when the list was compiled), other than that, they all have very unique styles and literary focuses. I enjoyed this book because it exposed me to a lot of authors whose other work I’m eager to check out. I also had a slight bias because a friend I went to Divinity School with is included in this talented group, C.E. Morgan.

If you’re looking to be introduced to new authors or are just eager to check out a diverse collection of short stories, this was a good read. Not all the stories spoke to me, but like I mentioned earlier, enough did that I’m eager to check out their other work.

Wild Nights!: Stories About the Last Days of Poe, Dickinson, Twain, James, and Hemingway
by Joyce Carol Oates
(Ecco Press, 2008, 238 pages)

This collection of 5 short stories focuses on alternate endings/interpretations of the latter days in the lives of some of literature’s heavyweights. Oates puts a unique spin on the lives of Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Henry James, and Ernest Hemingway. Not only does she incorporate biographical elements, she also channels the writing styles of each of the authors. The stories were unique and I finished the book wanting to learn more about each of the authors Oates focused on. It’s hard to go much further in depth without summarizing each of the short stories, but this was definitely a dark and engaging read. If you’re a literature lover you’ll appreciate this collection.

The story of Dr. SeussCat, Grinch, and even the WhosAbound in this fact filled bookThat gives Geisel’s life a look

Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel: A Biography by Judith & Neil Morgan chronicles the life and career of Theodore Seuss Geisel. “Ted” Geisel was born in Springfield, MA in 1904 and grew up in a house not far from the bustling Mulberry Street. Not so coincidentally, the title of Dr. Seuss’s first book is And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street. Ted Geisel died in California in 1991. Geisel packed quite a life into his 87 years on earth.

Judith & Neil Morgan, the authors of Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel, knew Ted Geisel in the latter half of Geisel’s life. This friendship along with their research allowed the authors to portray Ted Geisel the man as well as the author/artist. Geisel was a quiet, but complicated man who loved to draw and travel. He was not a scholar, but he was brilliant with words. On more than one occasion, Ted Geisel was asked to write his autobiography, but

He would stop and then start
It was just not in his heart
But if you read this instead
You’ll get to know Ted.

We’re beefing up our graphic novel collection here at the library so I had to read this when it arrived. Not to mention the fact that Kelly breezed through it. Clowes sets this book up with Marshall sitting in a coffee shop waiting on a blind date. The reader is privy to all the thoughts going on in his head as he berates himself for putting himself in this situation, while also being proud of himself for getting out there. He’s had a rough go of it, he’s divorced, looking for work, and hasn’t had a real relationship in something like six years. Suddenly, Natalie comes into his life…

Marshall and Natalie were set up by two of their friends who thought they would hit it off. Let’s just say they both have their fair share of “issues” and both suffered rough breakups in the past. We sit through their date, which has its ups and downs, always privy to Marshall’s running interior monologue of how he thinks things are going and trying to figure what he should do to ensure Natalie likes him.

Things take an interesting turn as the night progresses and the book ends on a considerably more optimistic note than when it began. A nice, quick read.

I love a good food memoir, so when I saw this on the shelf at the library I happily picked it up. It sounded like it was right up my alley. It wasn’t until I started reading that I realized the author is actually the younger sister of actress Sandra Bullock! That added a different perspective to things, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that there’s any gossip in here. The memoir takes us through Gesine’s (pronounced Guh-see-na not Jazeen) journey as she decided to give up her life in Hollywood, working at her sister’s production company, and open up a bakery in Montpelier, Vermont. Gesine wasn’t happy working in Hollywood, she found she was constantly thinking about food and what she’d bake next while simultaneously dreading each work day. After Sandra mentioned her sister’s macaroons in InStyle magazine, her venture into baking essentially sky-rocketed.

This was a really enjoyable read. The writing style is very accessible and approachable. You get a sense that you can really hear Gesine’s voice through her writing. She has an interesting background, not only does she have a movie star for a sister, but her mother was a noted opera singer from Germany so Gesine and Sandra regularly spent time traveling to and from Germany and the culture is very much still a part of their lives. You get a real feel for all the work that goes into opening a bakery and keeping things afloat. Not only do you have to wake up earlier than anyone should ever have to (3 a.m. – eep!) but you’re still putting in a full day, trying to come up with clever ideas for pastries and cakes, trying to find time for your friends and family, all while basically heading to bed by 8 p.m. Gesine makes it clear that there is more to her life than sugar and butter, but you also know that she’s doing what she loves. That message comes across very clearly.

Each chapter ends with a recipe that means something to the author, all of which I’m eager to try. She has two cookbooks that I’ll definitely be checking out: Sugar Baby: Confections, Candies, Cakes & Other Delicious Recipes for Cooking with Sugar and Pie It Forward: Pies, Tarts, Tortes, Galettes, and Other Pastries Reinvented. I really enjoyed this title and I finished it in two days, so if you love baking (or just reading about it) this could be something nice and light to pick up.

Dexter and Rita head to Paris for their honeymoon and are exposed to a unique new art form wherein a woman films herself cutting off her leg… Needless to say, this sets the scene for the rest of the book. Dexter returns to Miami only to be called to a “creative” crime scene. Someone has set up an artistic display of two bodies on the beach. Their insides have been scraped clean and are filled with standard “tourist” fare. Someone is clearly trying to send a message. While investigating, Dexter and Deborah are called to another scene, obviously done by the same person. Dead bodies are “artistically” being set up around Miami and Deborah is eager to find out who’s doing it and why. Their main lead is someone who has it out for the Department of Tourism…

While trying to solve the crime, Deborah is also trying to come to grips with her knowledge about who Dexter really is. As a cop she can’t justify not doing anything. After revealing this struggle to Dexter as they head out to interview a suspect he is at a loss for how to handle things. It is while they are both dealing with this issue that Deborah is stabbed by a suspect, sending her to the hospital with considerable blood loss and potential brain damage. Things with this case suddenly become very personal to Dexter and he has it in mind that he’ll be the one taking care of the artistic suspect. That is, until the suspect decides to turn the focus on Dexter and threatens to reveal him for the killer he really is…

This was a quick read and it was definitely better than book 3 in the series. I’ve already put in a request for #5…

This might be the third book I have read by Tess Gerritsen. I totally enjoyed it. It’s from this series featuring medical examiner Maura Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli in Boston. The story is set in ice cold Wyoming. Maura meets an old colleague at this medical conference and joins his friends for a weekend ski trip. Their SUV runs off the road in a heavy snowstorm; they take shelter in a remote village where the residents seem to have vanished. In Boston, detective Jane Rizzoli receives a call that Maura died in a car accident and fire. Jane travels to Wyoming with her FBI-agent husband and tries to find out what really happened.

This is a fast-paced book that packs twists and turns and a good, unpredictable ending. I had the book with me at a conference and was reading it during lunch breaks. For someone with a weak stomach, the forensic detailing is not so overwhelming in this book. It’s a very good detective/medical thriller.